New Zealand look at Wright options

New Zealand are considering possible roles for John Wright, who is keen to remain in Canterbury after refusing the position as head coach at Australia's Centre of Excellence. Although there has been speculation Wright could take over from John Bracewell, whose contract as New Zealand's coach ends in July, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive Justin Vaughan said no decision had been made on Bracewell's future.

"Obviously we don't want to leave NZC in a vacuum without a coach," Vaughan told The Press on Thursday, his first day as chief executive. "There is a board meeting in about ten days where I want to talk to the board about the process. We will then have about six weeks until John is off contract and it would be great if we could run that process until then to give us some certainty.

"Certainly over the last 12 months the side has performed pretty well, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy and World Cup and winning the Chappell-Hadlee series 3-0. There are lots of positive marks in there. But the coach from here on needs to believe he can make them better than that."

Vaughan said it was good news for New Zealand that Wright had decided not to move to Australia. "I haven't had the chance to meet with him properly yet," Vaughan said. "Hopefully within the next few weeks we can see what his thoughts are. If you spoke to John one of his prime motivators is his desire to stay in Canterbury on his farm.

"So that immediately means he might fit some things and not others. I think that is one of the drivers for him not taking the position in Australia. He might be ready now to do something in New Zealand, when he wasn't before."

Vaughan described Wright, who coached India from 2000 to 2005, as "extraordinary". "He is obviously a very talented guy, very knowledgeable and we'd love to have him," he said. "To be able to have managed the Indian team with their huge egos and drive performance in that environment was remarkable. But maybe he just wants to be a farmer and that's fine ... just as long as he isn't helping the Australians."